Please take a moment and make a financial contribution to TheFunded. If we have helped you, help us with resources to further grow the both the site and our entrepreneur training program, The Founder Institute.

Crosslink Capital CERTIFIED

Firm Rating:

Firm Homepage:

FIRM OVERVIEW: Large Private VC founded in 1999 based out of San Francisco, USA (US West)

FIRM DESCRIPTION: Crosslink Capital's venture fund focuses on stage-independent, technology venture capital. Investments range from seed stage investments to PIPE transactions. The first venture fund was launched in 1989; the firm's 5th generation fund closed in October 2005. Our investment team comprises seasoned venture capitalists and public investment professionals who work closely together. Our integrated & collaborative strategy means we can seek the most attractive investments in the growth equity spectrum - from seed stage private companies to mature public companies and everything in between. It means we can live with our portfolio companies longer - even into their lives as public companies. And it means that we have a broader perspective that allows us to seek, build and realize value in companies at any stage.

Posted by
stealthguy
on 2007-09-23

PUBLIC:

I recently pitched to Jim Feuille and Mike Stark for my startup in the consumer Internet space. They both are straight shooters that understand the sector. Jim has made investments in consumer companies such as Omniture, Pandora and Ancestry.com. There was a comment on here that said that Jim Feuille could be brutal. I agree that he had very focused questions, but I didn't think they were brutal at all. His questions actually showed that he understood the sector and got me thinking about things we could implement. As any entrepreneur should be, just be prepared when you pitch the firm. Overall, very positive experience. We are still waiting to hear back on the amount they are looking to invest in our seed round.

Posted by
Scribb
on 2008-07-28

PUBLIC:

I'd heard great things about Peter before pitching him, and went in expecting some good engagement and insight. Maybe I met him on a bad day. He was somewhat impatient--fair enough, time is precious--but also not as up to speed on our market as I would have expected given his background, and his questions seemed far more targeted for a Series B round than early stage. I know he's the early stage guy, but it made me wonder how much rope he really has.

A junior person approached me under the guise of having us pitch them for Series A. As the conversation progressed a bit, it became clear that the real objective was to gather intel. Turns out they had a couple of portfolio companies in the same space that were struggling. Not surprisingly, there was zero follow up.

They were very straightforward to deal with throughout the entire funding process. When we first pitched to them, they had done their homework on our space and asked some of the most relevant questions we were asked by any of the VC firms that we met with. As an early stage company, it was important to me to work with investors who not only looked at the numbers, but also really understood the vision. Crosslink really understood our vision, and even provided helpful suggestions during our first pitch meeting. In particular, Peter Rip is smart, thoughtful, experienced, and fair. If you're looking for funding, make sure to give Peter a call.

Posted by
Pseudonymous
on 2007-07-03

PUBLIC:

Unusual blend of public, late stage, and (more recently) early stage private investing. This makes presentations a bit of a challenge, as the perspectives of these groups can be very different. The core people are investment bankers from Robertson Stephens (acquired by BofA in the late 90's).

I pitched Peter and found his comments to be insightful and valuable. He definitely lives up to his reputation as a good investor to work with, although can be extremely analytical at times, so be prepared.

Posted by
Anonymous
on 2007-12-31

PUBLIC:

Our experience with Bruce was over all positive -- he understand the IT markets and buying process. The other guys we met with Gary Hromadko and Steven Perkins are very much MBA / financial types that ask a lot of theoretical questions about the market. To be fair, we pitched them for Series A -- and they are more Series B - public investors -- perhaps the best fit for early companies. As you get closer to public markets -- this team has potential to add value.

Posted by
OtherPeoplesMoney
on 2009-05-07

PUBLIC:

I enjoyed pitching Bruce MacNaughton, Jim Feuille and the Crosslink team at the end of 2008. They understood our business and where it could go. They did a very deep dive on the due diligence. In fact, this turned out to be quite useful for our company and business strategy, as they drove to us develop some more detailed metrics about how our customers buy and scale up their deployments.

Our deal negotiations went reasonably quickly. A few hitches and glitches, but eventually we got to good clean terms and a reasonable valuation. Fortunately we had good competition for investing in our round. We chose to go with Crosslink Capital to some extent based on the team members and the good work that they drove us to do during the due diligence period.

We closed the investment in Feb 2009. Jim Feuille joined our board. He has added a great level of sophistication and investment banking experience to the makeup of our board.

Pitched these guys specifically as a candidate for their early stage program. Not sure if they do things the same way with regular VC level investments but dealing with them on the seed level was an absolute pleasure. Most efficient investors I've ever talked to.